Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1887-01-08
LUCK OF CGUR UALENE.
BY LIEUT.. J. N. TRINBLE, U. s. A.

north, and jammed in between washington
9 and Montana. was the most attractive spot i
, the whole United States. News of the won
derful richness of the diggings spread far an
: wide, and before the stampede had well go
started Eagle City and the half dozen othe
mushroom towns scattered along the bank
of Eagle creek and Pritchard gulch wer'
already teeming with life and bustling will
excitement. The goose Fortune had begun
laying golden eggs for all in the little valley
hid away among the peaks of the Bitter Roo
range, for the lucky miners were taking ou1
every day great Jumps of yellow, shining
metal from wonderful nests, and still they
were not happy. There were at the time
some 5000 prospectors scattered throughout
the mountains, and yet no woman had made
her appearance. The superstitious belief is
an old one among this rough, ~good-natured
class that should a baby be born in lawful
wedlock in a new mining district the perma'
nency and success of the camp would be an
assured fact forever.
"Iu tell you what it is, boys" said a rough
and tumble specimen, who vent by the name
of Hank Potter, "Ill tell you what it is"
repeated that individual, springing on to a
barrel head in front of a saloon in Eagle
City, one cold December night, "we've got to
have a baby in camp. The Ceur d'Alenes
are doing purity big now, and no snakes; but
she'll bust sure afore long, and bust high,
too, less we got a youngster in the gulch."
"Let's offer a reward for a baby" sug-
gested Bart Stevens, an old-timer, who had
followed the first gold excitement across the
plains to California in 1S49.
"An' make it a whopper while y're at it"
put in illiterate, good-natured Dave Camp
| bell.
"All right" answered Potter for the crowd.
"Some of you fellers that's got school larnin'
| jest step into the captains offus and put yer
| fipper to writin' a reward for a baby. Make
it solid $1,000 in dust and nuggets, and call
it The Kids Fund; and while y're at it, say
the boy or gal will get a 10O-foot claim in
the gulch besides for a birth gift. Un'ur
stand, pard"
The reward was made out and labeled 1.-THE
| Kids Fund.-" according to orders. Various
| papers containing the announcement were
stuck against prominent trees all through the
diggings, and the camp settled down to quiet
ness and repose once more. Somehow or
other the news of the offer crept across the
lofty peaks of the Bitter Root range, and
was waited on the winter wind far up in the
wilds of Idaho to a lonely snow covered cabin
on the line of the Northern Pacific railroad.
Here the girl wife, who bad followed her
lover from the states, was suffering poverty,
hunger, cold and untold privations so as to
be with the husband of her choice in all his
trials. The young couple had toiled in the
wilderness for a year, but prosperity would
not come to them. He spent his days of
labor as a freight hand on the railroad, while
she remained in her cabin solitary and alone,
watching and waiting for his short visits.
Times went hard with them. It was difficult
to make both ends meet, and so there was
cold in the cabin and hunger at the door
most of the time. One day tho husband
dropped from a passing train, come to spend
a few hours with his beloved and respondent
spouse. He brought a bundle of newspapers
along with him, and among the lot was a
copy of The Frontier Index, published at
Thompson Falls, the nearest civilized point
to the famous mines. But duty called him
way soon afterward, and in a few hours
he was speeding up the road for a weeks
work..
The good wife went about her usual duties,
and in the evening snatched a few minutes to
glance at the papers her husband had left.
One Of the very first items that caught her
eve was the little notice from the generous
hearted miners from the golden valley of the
Bitter Root mountains. She read of the
S. 5000, and thought in her heart what a big
sum it was; but the idea of earning it never
for ono moment entered her head; still she
couldn't help thinking about it, and as she
turned it over and over in her mind, she fell
to bordering on the possibility of possessing
such a vast amount of wealth, and what she
would do with it when she gotit. That night
she dreamed Of huge nuggets and monstrous
chunks of gold, and of the clouds raining a
shower of beautiful golden dust, covering the
whole earth with a bright yellow maj An
angel had just come along and dumped a
basketful of hard, auriferous nuggets into
her lap, when she awoke with a start to find
it all a dream. The poor little woman was
feverish and excited, and read tho notice
again and again, until she grew more ex-
cited and nervous. At last she made up her
to go to Eagle City, and go she did.
Her term of maternity was approaching, but
how was she to get across the mountains to
that far-off place in the dead of winter and
without the knowledge of her husbands The
brave little woman thought the matter over
carefully, and finally ended her meditations
" - w UoAS e NoAlSC1 u1lu xlSA
her husbands displeasure by making the
dreadful trip. Taking what little money she
had she boarded a passing train that night,
and was set down at Thompson's Falls next
morning. Here a new difficulty arose.
There was NJ way of getting across the
to Eagle City except by means of
mules or the blackboard mail. 1t was a
tough journey even for the hardy mail
6riyor who arlao,,oral In -arn,>J. L.. J
would-be passenger not to attempt the trip:
the plucky little wife would not listen to
such advice, and paid her last cent for the
fare to Eagle City. Wrapping up in shawls
and blankets, she took her seat beside the
driver and was soon speeding up the
mountain side to the divide. All that
day the animals toiled through heavy
snowdrifts, and toward afternoon at
the summit, where a halt was made
for half an hour to water and feed. The
driver assisted bis half frozen passenger to
and helped her into the boarded tent,
called by courtesy THE Half Way House."
a nice warm supper awaited the weary
The little lady would have re-
NAMED here a couple of hours resting and
warming, but the United States mail knows
no delay, and so they must go on. 1t would
ddSe UetL "ISe, 81 luo OIlFeF Sdiu, TO lay over
for the next mail; but as the next mail would
not pass for two days at least, and perhaps
she decided to go at once. The buck.
board started down the mountain side, and
rattled along at a lively rate over the frosted
snow. By nightfall the snow began to fall
thick and fast, and in a short time the road
covered out of sight. The trail could
only be followed by the aid of blazed trees,
and, Of course, travelling became slow n
tedious of necessity.
How cold was the night, and how dark it
Once the driver leaned over to ask
MS companion some question; receiving no
answer, he looked closer, and was astonished
md alarmed to find that she had tainted.
Stopping the team with a jerk, he whipped a
from his pocket and held it to the I'M
lips. She had merely tainted from
exhaustion and not from cold. The brandy
revived her dropping faculties, and in a few
minutes the journey was resumed.
Late into the night the mules plodded
YEARLY along, and once more the tender
driver found his companion had be-
unconscious. This time it was from
,old and exposure instead of mere exhaus-
ion. He tried the brandy remedy again, but
t gave only temporary relief. no sooner